Thursday, September 22, 2011

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Phnom Penh - Police in Cambodia arrested a man claiming to be an adviser to US President Barack Obama and head of an international finance organization that stores its assets in caves and sunken ships.

Ray Dam and associate Soush Saroeun were charged with forgery Monday after being arrested at Dam's home in Phnom Penh. They were accused of forging documents alleging connections with HSBC Bank, the US government and the United Nations.

The pair had been operating a self-described international real-estate consultancy known as Asia Real Property out of modern offices in the Cambodian capital.

Asia Real Property's promotional materials identified the firm as a subsidiary of a group called the Office of International Treasury Control that claimed to be 'the largest single owner of gold and platinum bullion in the world,' holding cash and treasure in a variety of clandestine locations.

'Much of the treasure is buried in tunnels, bunkers and caves and in sunken ships,' the group said in an investment presentation. 'Further treasures are hidden all around the world.'

Dam is identified on the group's website as the 'sole arbiter ... of the Tripartite Gold Commission,' which was a post-World War II organization that searched for gold stolen by Nazi Germany and was dissolved in 1998. The website also said Dam was an adviser to Obama and his predecessor George W Bush.

Police said Dam and Saroeun had been advertising financial services to foreign joint venture partners in company documents claiming a connection to HSBC Bank. If convicted, they face a maximum of 16 years in prison.

According to an investigation report from police, Dam was born in Cambodia, fleeing the country for the US in the 1970s before returning in the early '90s. US embassy officials said they had been unable to confirm whether he holds US citizenship.

Officials from Cambodia's Ministry of Finance lodged a complaint against Dam and Saroeun after learning that the pair were operating without a real-estate licence. A government spokesman said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered an investigation after learning that Dam had been posing as an adviser to the president of Cambodia's Senate

Ever since urban centres were formed in Cambodia, usually around centres of trade and industrythere has been an understanding gap between people living in the rural areas and people who became accustomed to life in the city.

Ethnic groups tended to stay in the rural areas, and because they have been separated from places like Phnom Penh, they are seen, and often see themselves as foreigners in their own country when they come to the capital city.

In order to facilitate a greater sense of understanding and community between rural and urban populations, Khmer Community Development, officially established in 2005, invited 750 youth from 7 minority groups in Cambodia to join each other for a weekend of dialogue, activities and developing relationships.

Ngach Pheaktra, a tenth grader from Mondulkiri province, took part in the camping activity and said that, because this was his first trip to Phnom Penh, he sometimes felt like an outsider.

“I feel strange walking along the buildings and houses here. They are all made of brick, while our houses back in our villages are made of wood,” he said, adding that his home doesn’t have too many mosquitoes and he rarely goes on difficult journeys, but his homeland does have mountains, trees and wild animals.

Ngach Pheaktra says Phnom Penh seems much more dangerous, with all of the vehicles moving around the city. “I do not feel secure at all when I am in Phnom Penh. I heard of robbery and rape,” he said. “Compared to Phnom Penh, my village is much better off and safer,” he added.

For Kham Sopheap, a 17-year-old and twelfth grader from Rattanakiri province who is part of one of the ethic minorities in the area, told Lift that she can hardly breathe in Phnom Penh, unlike here village where there are plenty of trees and therefore lots of fresh ait. As a child, she faced a discrimination from students who asked her why she even came to school when she could not speak any Khmer. By the time she was eight, however, she was able to speak Khmer well enough to converse with her classmates.

“There are some things I like about Phnom Penh and other things I don’t like,” she said. “I like it for its amusement parks and the Royal Palace, but I certainly do not like when Phnom Penh is too crowded.”

Lat Bunart, an eleventh grader from Ratanakiri, said that she feels like Phnom Penh is a place only for wealthy people, whereas her village doesn’t require people to be rich. “People in my village are so friendly and welcome the poor and the rich, but people here seem so busy with their businesses and work,” she said. “In our village we spend the day farming and have much more free time to enjoy life.”

Residents of Village 23 on the edge of Boeung Kak lake dismantle their homes yesterday to make way for a controversial lakeside development. (Photo by: Pha Lina)

Thursday, 23 December 2010Chhay Channyda The Phnom Penh Post

Tuol Kork district authorities have given 18 families living in Boeung Kak lake’s Village 23 one week to dismantle their houses, accept compensation and relocate to Dangkor district.

Affected residents say their homes, which lie in the path of a planned access road to the controversial Boeung Kak lake development, will be bulldozed if they fail to meet the deadline.

Resident Ou Norleak, 38, said on Thursday that in a Wednesday meeting between deputy district governor Pich Keo Mony and the families, authorities said they will take drastic measures against those who resist.

“We can’t accept this because we have lived here for years,” Ou Norleak said. “Please Samdech Hun Sen, help your children. We will not be able to build a new house with this compensation.”

Huy Sokhon, another resident from Village 23, described the authorities’ actions as “dictatorship”.

In October, district governor Seng Ratanak told the families to remove their homes and accept a land plot in Dangkor district and 1 million riels (US$250), to make way for the widening of the access road R8 by developer Shukaku Inc.

Ek Yoeun, an official at the Tuol Kork district office, said Thursday that he did not join the meeting, but claimed the authorities had increased the compensation payout to 5 million riels ($1,250), up from the previous offer of 1 million.

“I heard some people asked for $50,000. The government’s policy is only to give a land plot in Kork Ksach village [in Dangkor district] and a small amount of money,” he said.